50 Studies Every Occupational Therapist Should Know

Dr. Beth Pyatak, PhD, OTR/L, CDCES, FAOTA (she/her) is an occupational scientist, occupational therapist, and certified diabetes care and education specialist. She is an Associate Professor in the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California, consistently ranked within the top three occupational therapy programs in the nation by US. News and World Report. As the director of the Lifestyle Redesign for Chronic Conditions research lab at USC, Dr. Pyatak has focused on understanding the lived experiences of individuals with diabetes and other chronic conditions, and developing innovative occupational therapy interventions to support their disease management and quality of life; this work has focused particularly on addressing the needs of medically underserved populations. Over the course of her academic career, Dr. Pyatak has published and presented extensively on her work related to chronic conditions, and has won numerous awards and honors for her scholarship and mentoring. Dr. Pyatak was born and raised in California, and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Arun; two children, Nyx and Milo; and three cats, Peter, Omar and Twist. Dr. Elissa S. Lee, OTD, OTR (she/her) serves as Clinical Strategy Manager for SCAN Health Plan. Raised between Austin, Texas and Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Lee received her B.A. in Psychology at University of California, Berkeley, and her M.A. and clinical doctorate at University of Southern California. For her doctoral work, she focused on chronic care management in medically underserved populations at the Lifestyle Redesign for Chronic Conditions research lab, and was named a Student Innovator by the Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science in 2018. Dr. Lee (she/her) is a proud daughter of immigrants; she is also a caregiver, a sister, a grandchild, a cousin, a friend. In her attempts to improve health equity, Dr. Lee also writes solutions-based healthcare journalism for the Southern California News Group, Center for Health Journalism, and AARP; consults on impact for Mental Health America, GSA Network, and Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation; and organizes community efforts, such as creating an inaugural mental health trainee scholarship for the AAPI community. Dr. Lee formerly worked for Too Small to Fail, a national initiative of the Clinton Foundation, promoting the importance of early brain and language development in early childhood.

Productive Aging
1. Occupational Therapy for Independent-Living Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial
2. Integration of balance and strength training into daily life activity to reduce rate of falls in older people (the LiFE study): randomised parallel trial.
3. Prevention of falls in the elderly trial (PROFET): a randomised controlled trial.
4. Tailored activities to manage neuropsychiatric behaviors in persons with dementia and reduce caregiver burden: a randomized pilot study.
5. Community based occupational therapy for patients with dementia and their care givers: randomised controlled trial.
6. Effectiveness of Assistive Technology and Environmental Interventions in Maintaining Independence and Reducing Home Care Costs for the Frail Elderly
7. Efficacy of occupational therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease: a randomised controlled trial.
8. Community aging in place, advancing better living for elders: A bio-behavioral-environmental intervention to improve function and health-related quality of life in disabled older adults.
9. A randomized, controlled trial of a group intervention to reduce fear of falling and associated activity restriction in older adults.

Health/Wellness
1. The integration of occupational therapy into primary care: a multiple case study design
2. OPTIMAL, an occupational therapy led self-management support programme for people with multimorbidity in primary care: a randomized controlled trial
3. The Long-Term Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational-Behavioural Joint Protection Programme for People With Rheumatoid Arthritis
4. Occupational therapy interventions for chronic diseases: A scoping review
5. Occupational therapy intervention improves glycemic control and quality of life among young adults with diabetes: The Resilient, Empowered, Active Living with Diabetes (REAL Diabetes) randomized controlled trial

Work and Industry
1. The effect of education on backpack wearing and posture in a middle school population
2. Factors Associated With Success in an Occupational Rehabilitation Program for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders
3. Return to work in the context of everyday life 7-11 years after spinal cord injury -- a follow-up study
4. Outcomes of a Vocational Program for Persons With AIDS
5. Environmental factors impacting work satisfaction and performance for adults with autism spectrum disorders

Mental Health
1. Weight loss intervention for people with serious mental illness: a randomized controlled trial of the RENEW program
2. The importance of personal medicine: A qualitative study of resilience in people with psychiatric disabilities
3. Randomized controlled pilot study of an occupational time-use intervention for people with serious mental illness.
4. Supported education for Adults with psychiatric disabilities: effectiveness of an occupational therapy program
5. Optimizing arousal to manage aggression: A pilot study of sensory modulation
6. The body can change the score: Empirical support for somatic regulation in the treatment of traumatized adolescents
7. Occupation-based intervention for addictive disorders: A systematic review

Children/Youth
1. Hyper-responsivity to touch and vestibular stimuli as a predictor of positive response to sensory integration procedures by autistic children
2. Autism during infancy: A retrospective video analysis of sensory-motor and social behaviors at 9-12 months of age
3. Sensory Adapted Dental Environments to Enhance Oral Care for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study
4. Factor Analysis on the Sensory Profile From a National Sample of Children Without Disabilities
5. Effects of constraint-induced movement therapy in young children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy: and adapted model
6. Moderate versus light pressure massage therapy leads to greater weight gain in preterm infants
7. A Content Validity Study of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory
8. The Test of Playfulness and Children with Physical Disabilities
9. Perceived Environmental Barriers to Recreational, Community, and School Participation for Children and Youth with Physical Disabilities
10. The Complexities Embedded in Family-Centered Care
11. A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of the Effectiveness of Occupational Therapy for Children with Sensory Modulation Disorder

Rehab/Disability
1. Length of stay and recovery rate influence patients' functional outcomes in post-acute care after hip fracture surgery.
2. Evaluating driving as a valued instrumental activity of daily living
3. Lifestyle Changes and Pressure Ulcer Prevention in Adults With Spinal Cord Injury in the Pressure Ulcer Prevention Study Lifestyle Intervention
4. What does participation mean? An insider perspective from people with disabilities.
5. Systematic Review of Occupational Therapy and Adult Cancer Rehabilitation: Part 1. Impact of Physical Activity and Symptom Management Interventions. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(2). Systematic Review of Occupational Therapy and Adult Cancer Rehabilitation: Part 2. Impact of Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation and Psychosocial, Sexuality, and Return-to-Work Interventions.
6. The Canadian occupational performance measure: An outcome measure for occupational therapy
7. Randomized controlled trial of an energy conservation course for persons with multiple sclerosis
8. Clinical reasoning: Forms of inquiry in a therapeutic practice
9. Combined Cognitive-Strategy and Task-Specific Training Improve Transfer to Untrained Activities in Subacute Stroke: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial
10. Effectiveness of Occupation- and Activity-Based Interventions to Improve Everyday Activities and Social Participation for People With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review
11. Higher hospital spending on occupational therapy is associated with lower readmission rates
12. Early physical and occupational therapy in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients: a randomised controlled trial
13. A synthesis of the effects of occupational therapy for persons with stroke. Part I: restoration of roles, tasks, and activities A Synthesis of the Effects of Occupational Therapy for Persons With Stroke, Part II: Remediation of Impairments